Bal Thackeray’s funeral part of million mourners club

Nov 19, 2012, 04.42AM ISTTNN

The Shiv Sena chief's cortege in Mumbai, which stretched 2 kms, is believed to have drawn a crowd of nearly 1 million who lined the route from Kalanagar to Shivaji Park.

MUMBAI: If the attendance at a funeral is any indication of a person's popularity, the most admired or liked figures in India would narrow down to a group that includes Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, C N Annadurai, Vallabhbhai Patel, Babasaheb Ambedkar, and, you guessed it, Bal Thackeray.

In the West, the 'million man club' would include a motley group comprising Pope John Paul II, Michael Jackson, Ayatollah Khomeini and Victor Hugo. There are no authoritative numbers on funeral attendance anywhere, but it is widely believed that the largest congregation of mourners in recent years was seen on the streets of London for Princess Diana's final journey. Close to 3 million people turned up to bid goodbye to the 'people's princess'.

The Shiv Sena chief's cortege in Mumbai, which stretched 2 kms, is believed to have drawn a crowd of nearly 1 million who lined the route from Kalanagar to Shivaji Park. But the turnout needs to be seen in the context of the city's current demographic.

Other big guns in Mumbai have attracted equally large or even larger congregations, if seen in proportion to the city's overall population. It appears that Ambedkar's procession was about 2 miles (3.2 km) long and his cremation was attended by around 5 lakh people while Patel's was reportedly attended by close to 1 million people.

When comparing the numbers with Sunday's turnout at Shivaji Park, do remember that Greater Mumbai's population in 1950 when Patel died was around 3 million (so a crowd of a million would be about a third of the population) and in 1956, when Ambedkar died, it would have been approximately 3.5m (so a 5-lakh-strong crowd would have been about a seventh of the total Mumbaikars).